This is the final P'fhor in terms of base geometry. I've burned about two weeks making sure the base mesh is all right, as this character is easily the most important in all the game, neglecting the SO himself. Fine details, however, are not final. You might say, "What's with the tacky carbon fiber?", or "where are his rebreather tubes?", perhaps "Where are the three green spheres around the staff from the sprite?", or even "What gives, you didn't change the eye shader like I asked!", and I'll say "Can't you read? It's not final!" and then I'll explain how I haven't had the time to deck him out in true mechanical AutoCAD geometry, but that I will have the time soon. Post what you think. I'd not be so concerned with your opinions were it some other character, but this needs to have universal appeal, so if you don't like something, neglecting the small stuff, let me know as wholeheartedly and as cruelly as you can muster. Critique is better that way.

You don't think that would look clunky, that extension? It seems like it would make moving about harder. Perhaps making it wider would advance it from thong to jock-strap. If I change that, I'd probably also want to make the vambraces more triangular, like the original. I feel like I could make a few variations, such as one with a longer head, as genetic differences in the species. I do agree that this one is a bit boyish.

Envy wrote:Post what you think. I'd not be so concerned with your opinions were it some other character, but this needs to have universal appeal, so if you don't like something, neglecting the small stuff, let me know as wholeheartedly and as cruelly as you can muster. Critique is better that way.

He looks kind of sad--as if he'd met his creator in person.

Last edited by treellama on Aug 10th '12, 12:32, edited 1 time in total.

A pfhor fighter is mix of human and insect. I think what is missing from your model is the insect part. Insects use exoskeletons. Unlike humans who wrap their muscles around their bones, insect attach their muscles inside their bones. The bones in other words are on the outside. They are shell-like.

How will pfhor legs and arms look if the bones were on the outside? Not like your model. Many limbs would be thinner and more glossy. Proportions would be different. There would be no wrinkles too. Insects have no skin like humans do.

Look at the leg of insect, and then at leg of low res pfhor and tell me if you do not see similarities. Turn the predator leg 90 degree counter clockwise. A pfhor leg right there. I think if you take inspiration from insect limbs/exoskeletons your model will end up looking more real.

I agree. I feel like the forehead should be a little taller. Or maybe it's just that when the forehead and the top of the head meet they should meet at a nearly 90Â° angle rather than the smooth, spherical transition you've got. The angular transition would give it a more menacing look.

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"The head should be taller" criticism doesn't just apply to the head itself, but also to the mouthpiece by extension, I believe. The mouthpiece in the game took up half their face, and it made you wonder what it's mouth looked like.

I agree that it's current state is too human-like, though it's sad that means all the meticulous detail done for the musculature of the legs was for naught. Sure, the pfhor kind of look like insects, but these things are aliens, they might follow a morphology we've never seen before. Don't assume the anti-humanoid moans mean "make it as insectoid as possible." It might not work out if followed too closely. The game sprites and concept arts are likely the best reference material (you knew that already, but meh, just sayin).

The skin kind of looks like paper mache or some brittle material that was wrapped around it's body with crumpled folds and creases like paper. I think the skin was a lot more smooth and sleek in the games. I think it's toes should be fatter and closer together, too. This goes for the fingers as well.

The "brain-flap" (or whatever you want to call it) on the back of it's head looks a little too... like a flabby ghost head or some wormy appendage. In M1 it looked like a beaded-style fleshy ponytail of sorts, and in M2 it looked like a sharp fin or a bird's head feather. I don't know which to go with, but it needs room to wire it's two brains together, so the thin beady look probably isn't it.

Last edited by VikingBoyBilly on Aug 11th '12, 01:56, edited 1 time in total.

Not so. That leg looks distinctly muscular. This raises something we should probably put to a poll, but I won't, because TL has an aversion to them. Do we want bugs, nicely sculpted Davids, or something in between? I always thought of them as bony, not exoskeletal, but on the other hand, smashing chitin is such a pleasing sound. I can do either, but as of now, I'm undecided. Sway me.

You don't believe then, Goran, that this version, with some smoothing and some color differentiation, could be more bug-like? I think I'll attempt a multi-layered chitin-muscle P'fhor, and if that doesn't fit, I'll start from scratch.

At first, I definitely disagreed with goran that the Pfhor are so insectoid as to have exoskeletons. Now I'm less sure. Here's some of the original concept art for the Pfhor fighter. Click for more images.From the sources I've seen, the skin's surface seems smooth. Earlier I would've chalked this up to low resolution art that couldn't depict the detail one can get now with Zbrush or normal maps, but that explanation seems unlikely now.However, a smooth surface could still mean skin or chitin. Another clue is the extra protrusions - one out the front of the knee and a second out the back of the calf. I think of these as vestigial digits like dewclaws. Anyway, they remain rigid as the leg is in different positions, which means it's not just a mass of soft tissue - it's supported by bone or is itself bony.Still, I doubt it's exoskeleton. Their overall body structure is pretty humanoid. They seem to walk plantigrade, on their feet. They have knees which bend forward. The upper body armor seems to be shaped to protect a humanoid-shaped chest cavity. If their body were a carapace, I'd expect the armor to be designed differently. Their skulls have bulges and indentations that make them, well, skull-like. They don't have segmented legs, or antenna or a distinct thorax & abdomen. They don't have visible mandibles or stingers or other insect features, so really what makes them insectoid? They might have compound eyes but that's speculative.

Tycho thought it was appropriate to refer to them as bugs when he mocked their obedience in Infinity. I do not think an artificial intelligence would make such a comment unless it thought pfhor were insect-like. Had he commented on humans in the same manner I am sure he would have used monkeys and stupid.

Their eyes lack pupils, they are born in eggs, they have wasps, they got sharp things on their legs. They are bony. They got three eyes. When they build cyborgs they give them pincers. They speak goddamn weird. Their blood is not red. They dont breath air. The only thing that is humanoid about them is their general shape, that they have two legs, two arms, and a head.

goran wrote:Their eyes lack pupils, they are born in eggs, they have wasps, they got sharp things on their legs. They got three eyes. When they build cyborgs they give them pincers. They speak goddamn weird. Their blood is not red. They dont breath air. The only thing that is humanoid about them is their general shape, that they have two legs, two arms, a head, and they are bony.

The only thing in that list that is actually indicative of them being more like insects is that they have pointy things on their legs. You described "humanoid" very accurately, but the word is inclusive of only the things you mentioned. Something humanoid, by that definition, could have all of the qualities you listed. Regardless, I'm willing to soften his sexy, sculpted form, and make his pieces look like shattered chitin. It should be the same visceral, crunchy feeling that you're used to.